Razor cartridge with non-cutting element

Abstract

A novel razor cartridge includes at least one non-cutting element disposed anywhere within a blade array between a guard and a cap and / or in a blade position of a frame providing skin / hair management. This non-cutting element allows the fine-tuning of parameters such as blade-skin contact, hair orientation, blade spans and rinse-through gaps in manners that improve shaving comfort, closeness, efficiency, and / or rinse-ability. The non-cutting element may include projections, fin-like elements, comb-like features having teeth, exfoliation or lubricating capabilities. By having a fixed non-cutting element disposed midway in a blade array, a multi-stage cartridge is provided with a middle control point with potentially different functionality before and after the non-cutting element. The non-cutting element is not attached to another blade in the blade array though it may be manufactured as a modified blade support, attached to a blade support, or as part of the frame or the clips.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]This invention relates to razor blades, and more particularly to a razor cartridge having at least one non-cutting element.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]Many razors for wet shaving on the market today have one or more razor blades (with many having three to six razor blades) within a razor cartridge which is operatively coupled to a handle, some razors being disposable and some razors having a reusable handle. Razor cartridges having multiple blades are described, for instance, in US Patent Publication No. 2005 / 0039337A1 published on Feb. 24, 2005, and one such razor cartridge has been commercialized as the five bladed Fusion™ Razor by The Gillette Company.[0003]While multiple blades provide an improved close shave, generally some performance issues may still arise. Firstly, some discomfort may be realized by users during shaving. Secondly, shaving is still a relatively slow and inefficient process due to missed hairs and the difficulty in shaving prob...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0018]Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, and from the claims.

Problems solved by technology

While multiple blades provide an improved close shave, generally some performance issues may still arise.

Firstly, some discomfort may be realized by users during shaving.

Secondly, shaving is still a relatively slow and inefficient process due to missed hairs and the difficulty in shaving problem areas such as the neck.

In addition, it has been shown that some areas (e.g., neck, chin, and / or face) are particularly hard to shave.

In many instances, the user has to shave the same area repeatedly in attempting to cut hair that was either uncut or not cut close enough to the skin, resulting in increased skin irritation.

The discomfort aspect may be due to the increased number and sharpness of the blades and the cumulative force or loading on the skin, particularly in cartridges with three or more sharp blade edges.

One disadvantage of this prior art solution is that the inter-blade guard element is necessarily joined to a razor blade element and hence, not in and of itself an independent element in the razor cartridge.

This in turn may limit the rinse-ability as it only provides a rinse-through gap or area between the inter-blade element and the blade immediately after, and not also before (e.g., on both sides of) the inter-blade element.

It may also increase time and cost to manufacture such an inter-blade element onto the blades.

This solution, however, does not provide improved shaving attributes or advantages for a conventional razor cartridge which typically provides all blades facing in only one direction.

Thus, while many prior art solutions attempt to improve comfort and efficiency, they do not adequately provide an answer to the problem of increasing the number of hairs cut and / or the ability to shave problem areas efficiently (e.g., neck, chin).

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